Vacation:
by cam94509
Summary: T.K's family and Kari's family go on a vacation... Which is moderately awkward for them, since they crush on one another. Takari.
1. Prologue

Vacation:

Day 1: Prologue:

A/N: The Prologue is choppy. That's sort of the point. It introduces the story, but I wasn't able to really focus on it. I'm not going to keep working on this story unless people like it, writing has become enough work that unless people like what I what I write, it isn't worth it.

"T.K, if you don't give me back that journal, it's going to be a long vacation for you!" Kari yelled at him

"But I just want to read ONE PAGE!" He said, teasingly.

"If you do, I won't talk to you again, _**ever**_!"

"Alright, Alright, you win!" He said, laughing.

She's really glad he didn't decide to look at the journal... Which was really more of a dairy, although no one would EVER catch her calling it that. Journal sounded mature, dairy sounded like something that a little girl would have. If he'd seen what she'd written about him, he'd probably have been embarrassed... But it might have been worse yet if he reciprocated the feelings she'd written about. After all, they were still just fifteen. Any relationship beyond a friendship was likely to end disastrously, and she very much liked him as a friend as well as the other feelings she had for him.

As he handed it back to her, she smiled and put it back into her backpack, shoving it far enough down that she knew T.K would get distracted before he found it.

"Hey, it's time to go! You two need to hurry up already!" Matt said.

"Fine, I'm ready to go. Kari, are you ready?" T.K asked, and she nodded.

_**45 minutes later, in the airport:**_

__The terminal was loud, so Matt had a pair of headphones on, and was listening to music. Most of it was recorded live at his concerts, but some of it was music written by other bands that he liked. He was trying to write music on a small laptop computer... and trying to ignore the crowd around him.

The point of the headphones, however, had nothing to do with ignoring the crowd around him, and everything to do with making them THINK he was ignoring them. Even as it was, people occasionally interrupted his train of thought, tapping him on the shoulder and asking him for his autograph.

He reluctantly autographed sheets of paper, books, almost everything. He was a little annoyed at his mother and his best friends parents for setting up this blasted vacation. He would have been a lot annoyed, but he knew once they left his home country of Japan, he wouldn't be constantly swarmed with people he didn't know, because he wasn't terribly well known outside of Odaiba, and was practically unheard of outside of Japan.

After signing yet another autograph, he found himself watching his little brother, trying hard not to laugh at him. It was so OBVIOUS that he liked Kari, the girl who was his best friend since 7th grade, and yet he'd never told her... Even though it was obvious that she liked him, as well.

Watching the two, even without being able to hear what they were saying over his music, he knew that both were faced with that dilemma that probably haunted them whenever they were together: Tell the other how they felt, or not?

The way T.K sat, clearly trying to think, but unable to smile whenever Kari tapped him on the shoulder, and said whatever she was saying. The way Kari, who was clearly trying not to bother him, was unable talking to him anyway, and clearly unsure about what she was saying.

She was probably telling something other than what she had initially meant to... she was probably trying to tell him how she felt, but at the same time, was trying hard not to for some stupid reason.

Matt turned back to his computer, rolling his eyes. He had let himself get distracted again, something that he tried hard not to do. If he left himself get distracted, it took him half of forever to make any progress in whatever he was composing.

Meanwhile, Tai was watching his little sister and her crush more warily. Tai was extremely protective of his sister. While he WANTED to trust T.K with Kari, because he knew that there was probably no one better, Tai couldn't bring himself to. He knew eventually T.K and Kari would admit there feelings for one another, but he couldn't bring himself to accept it.

"Why am I so irrational?" He muttered to himself, knowing the answer before he asked.

He was irrational because he knew that whatever happened between T.K and Kari would only end up hurting Kari. Really, though, it was too late. Everyone involved was already on a path to hurt, no matter what. It was best to let the situation play out... or so he hoped.

Neither T.K nor Kari knew that they were being watched. T.K was trying to write a passage to a story he was working on, but somehow he enjoyed Kari's constant interruptions. After a few minutes of this, the attendant announced that flight 87 would be boarding, which was the flight that they would be on.


	2. Takeoff

Day 1, Part 2: Takeoff:

A/N: ROFL, I'm writing all of this through intense writers block... I want my writing speed from my first story back ;(... Oh well, I'll learn to write through this freaking writer's block someday. Until then, I'm going to keep pushing the limits.

T.K smiled to himself. He was sitting next to Kari, and would be for the 10 hour plane flight from Tokyo to Seattle. They were sitting behind Matt and Tai, who were sitting across from Kari's parents, and behind T.K's mother.

Kari would probably have been happy too, except that she hated take-off and landing. T.K noticed that something was wrong, and asked,

"Don't like flying?"

"Yeah." Kari said, "Especially take-off."

"It'll be fine." He said,

"I know that." Kari said, smiling, "It's not rational."

He smiled, looking at her. She smiled back. Their eye's locked, both of them unable and unwilling to express the depth of their feelings, although both were thinking about it. After a moment, T.K realized he was staring at her, and looked away, blushing. T.K looking away brought Kari back to reality, and she, too, realized that she was staring, and reacted much as T.K had.

They both sat their, blushing, feeling highly awkward, and neither looking at the other. Kari was looking out the planes window, wondering if T.K might just reciprocate her feelings. T.K was looking at his feet, wondering much the same thing about Kari.

They continued acting like this, until the plane began to move. Kari closed her eyes, and tensed, trying to look strong.

"Kari, you don't have to act like your not scared." T.K said, "Nobody's judging you... I'm not going to laugh."

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but... it makes me appear weak, doesn't it?" Kari asked.

T.K rolled his eyes, "Kari, I've known you for how long? Why would how you act on a plane change my opinion of you?"

"Right, you already know I'm weak." Kari said, bitterly.

"No, there have been times when the only reason I could carry on is because of you... Your not weak." T.K said.

She blushed, slightly, and recognizing what he just said, he blushed slightly. After another few seconds of awkward silence, she whispered, "Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah." He said, wondering if he'd said more than he'd meant to.

"You've kept me going plenty of times too." She said.

T.K knew it was hard for her to admit anything that could even be seen as a weakness, and so he smiled, "Thank you."

The plane reached the final stretch of runway, and the conversation ended, mostly because they both knew it was going to be hard to keep talking over the plane going down the runway. As the plane thundered down the runway, Kari tensed again, looking really worried.

"It'll be alright" T.K said, soothingly, and while the words did her no good, hearing _him say_ the words did help her. She trusted him, even if she didn't trust the human operated machine she was in.

He extended his hand over, and placed it gently on her shoulder, a difficult feat due to the bounciness of the plane.

She smiled. Even this conversational gesture was exhilarating for her, exhilarating enough to distract her for a few seconds from the airplane's bounciness... Until the absolutely gut-wrenching feeling of take-off.

It was impossible to forget where she was in that moment, and the moments of terror in her that followed. She feared flying this close to the ground, even though she knew that nothing was going to go wrong.

T.K felt her tense again, and frowned. He really didn't like seeing her like this, and to be totally honest, he didn't like takeoff, either. He was just putting on a show of strength, because she needed someone to comfort her, and he knew no one else was going to do it.

After a few more seconds, a flight attendant's voice could be heard throughout the airplane. The passengers were told the usual things one is told on an airplane, like, 'don't take out electronic devices until we reaching cruising altitude'.

By the time she was done, Kari was relaxed. She knew she was far enough from the ground that she would be fine. T.K smiled, removing his hand from her shoulder, "Feeling better?"

"Yes. Well, other than feeling like a coward and a fool, I feel better."

"You aren't a coward, and nor are you a fool. Don't be so hard yourself." He said.

"You're just trying to make me feel better." She accused, smiling.

"No, I'm not." He said.

"You aren't?" She asked, looking suspicious.

"No..." He said, and then he knew: Here was a place and a time where he could express how he felt, and trying to pretend that he didn't feel for her was just making things awkward, "I might not be an unbiased judge though, I kinda like you. As in, like like."

A/N: I felt this was an appropriate place to end a chapter, don't you? Unlike the last time I wrote a cliff-hanger, I know what happens next, too.


	3. Crush

Day 1, Part 3: Crush:

A/N: Keep the reviews coming, people :P. Its easier to write when I feel appreciated.

"Really?" She asked.

He nodded.

"I like you, too." She whispered trying to make no one else would hear, "You know, I'd been almost hoping you didn't like me like I like you. I don't want to risk our friendship."

"We don't have to be girlfriend/boyfriend unless you want to, just because I know how you feel and you know how I feel doesn't mean we have to act on it. It's just... Not knowing, and not having you know, was very awkward." He said, equally quietly.

"Yeah. You know, I do want to..." She paused, not sure how to phrase the thought.

"You want to be my girlfriend?" He asked, understanding what she was trying to say.

She smiled, "Yeah. Do you want me as your girlfriend?"

"Yes." He said.

Two things hit T.K suddenly:

One, she liked him. He was exhilarated.

Two, he was whispering to a girl he liked about their feelings for one another behind the girls overprotective older brother. He had to resist laughing at this. It was ridiculous.

She noticed him stifling a laugh at the realization. "What?" She asked.

"We're on an airplane." He said, and she inferred the rest.

"Yeah, I guess it's not exactly where I'd have imagined this kind of moment" She smiled, "Nor really how I would have imagined it.

"Where would you have imagined it?" T.K whispered, feeling curious.

"A lunch table. Or perhaps alone somewhere.... I don't know, I know it wouldn't have been on an airplane, though... You?"

"Some school dance, or some event. I agree though, I never thought it'd be on an airplane."

"Yeah."

They smiled at one another, and he wished they were alone... or at least were in a place and time where hugging her would be appropriate.

"What do you want to do?" He asked, short on ideas.

"I dunno. Game of Tic-Tac-Toe?" She said, laughing slightly.

"Alright, seriously, what are you two whispering about? I have to know." Matt asked.

Both Kari and T.K replied "Nothing!" nearly simultaneously.

"Right..." Matt said. T.K knew that Matt probably knew what was going on, but probably didn't want to tip Tai off until it was absolutely necessary.

_**7 hours later: **_

T.K was writing. He'd long since been distracted from the story he'd been trying to write and was now writing short poems about the girl sitting next to him. She was working away on her laptop, playing around with different ways of framing an picture. The picture was of his face, and she was going to set it as her background for a while.

He smiled, looking at her, looking for words to describe her. She looked up at him, and smiled.

"What are you writing about?" She asked, conversationally.

"Oh, nothing. Just writing about this girl I like _a lot._" He said, smiling playfully.

She blushed slightly. He laughed, and whispered, "You're cute when you're embarrassed. Did you know that?"

She smiled, and whispered back, "So I'm not cute the rest of the time?"

"Did I say that? You are always cute. You are just especially cute when you are embarrassed."

"You don't look half bad yourself." She whispered, "I'd know, I've been trying to pick a border for a picture of your face to set as my background for the last fifteen minutes."

He laughed a little, "'don't look half bad'? Does that mean that I look almost half bad?"

"Did I say that? I think you're really handsome." She said, and they both laughed quietly.

"Can I see what I look like in the picture?" T.K said, curious.

"Uh... I'd rather not." Kari said, blushing. The picture was currently surrounded by a border of hearts, something she was rather embarrassed about, and had decided not to use, "Can I see what you've written about me?"

"Alright, you have a point." He admitted, recognizing that she was pointing out that he wouldn't want her to see what he'd written about her. She was right too. What he'd written was rather embarrassing, even to him, and the poetry wasn't very good.

"I thought not." She said, smiling.

"You were right." He said, laughing again, but he was still curious, "What's so embarrassing about the picture?"

"I had used a border of black with little pink hearts... I decided it was AWFUL, but that's what it currently is."

He laughed, "I understand why you don't want me to see that... That's pretty embarrassing."

"Yeah, it is. What's so bad about your poetry?"

"Other than the fact that it's not even good poetry? Not much."

She laughed, too, "So what your saying is: It's all mushy, and it doesn't even have the benefit of being any good."

"You got it." He said, laughing as well.

They laughed for a moment, and then, she yawned, "I'm so tired... I wonder what time it is back home."

"Hey, you're the one with a computer. I have no idea... What time is it?"

"10:15... Do you mind if I use your arm as a pillow?" She asked.

"Normally, I wouldn't, but I'm just as tired as you are. Sorry." He really was sorry, and she could hear that in his voice.

"No problem." She saved her work, and then turned off her laptop, placing it her backpack. Then, she closed her eyes, and tried to sleep.

T.K decided to do the same, deciding that their was no real reason to stay awake if she was going to sleep, and that he'd probably want to get some sleep now, because he wouldn't be sleeping for a while, because they had a lay-over in Seattle, and then another plane flight to New York, so he wouldn't be sleeping in a normal bed for quite a while.


End file.
